


Hell Frozen Over

by ravenclawkohai



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Demon AU, Demon!Sephiroth, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 09:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14258301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawkohai/pseuds/ravenclawkohai
Summary: A companion to A Cold Day in Hell, this time with Sephiroth as the demon





	Hell Frozen Over

               The silence that hung around Cloud did nothing but make him nervous. This whole thing was a huge gamble, more than likely a huge mistake, but he had told himself “no” for too long. He knew he was going to end up here one way or another, if anything it was better to get it over with so he could get the most out of it.

               Still, this whole situation was laced with danger, and his heart was racing for more reason than one, not the least of which being that he’d done it wrong. He knew what he was putting on the line, but he didn’t want this to kill him _immediately_.

               When the quiet stretched and stretched, he felt his heart fall. He must have done something wrong. For all the work and effort and risk involved, there was no answer. He blew out a slow breath and ran his free hand through his hair. There was nothing for it. Might as well clean up the evidence before someone found him.

               He closed the tome and set it on the ground, taking one step forward when the candles flickered. He froze in place, eyes narrowing.

               When nothing else happened, he cursed whatever draft had caused it and himself for getting his hopes up.

               He crossed to the large circle of chalk and salt and crouched down to wipe it away before thinking better of it. There was a closing to the ritual. It couldn’t hurt to do it anyway, just in case. Better safe than sorry.

               Cloud was about to stand up when he stopped in place again. He looked up just enough to see a pair of pale feet. He looked up and up and up, following the long line of legs wrapped in black leather that seemed to go for miles. When his neck was fully craned he could see a bare torso and arms behind the back, hands clasped, in what might have been a military parade rest, though there was a relaxed, languid quality to the man’s stance. Long silver hair spilled like a waterfall over one shoulder, the rest running down his back, his head bowed to look down at Cloud. One perfect eyebrow was arched, but there was a glint of amusement in his acid-green, cat-slit eyes.

               He wasn’t even able to put together what had happened at first. He was too busy thinking about how strangely, hauntingly beautiful the man was.

               But then the rest came rushing in.

               His head was crowned with horns—black, jagged things that arched to form what might have been a circle, despite the gap and the way the tips curved sharply out from the line of the would-be hoop. A pair of large, black-feathered wings were folded up against his bare back and a long, matching tail flicked idly back and forth by his ankles, covered in what might have been scales or might have been fine, hummingbird-like feathers. He was bedecked in silver and encrusted with gemstones, enough that he nearly dripped with wealth.

               “You called for me, little soul,” the man—no, _demon_ said in a low, almost purring voice, rich and smooth like wine. Cloud hoped it wasn’t too obvious when he shivered.

               “I did,” he said, standing back up, hoping it wasn’t too fast or too slow to look like he wasn’t calm and confident. He’d read that demons could smell emotions; he was filled of too many conflicting feelings and hoped that it would be enough to throw off his nose so actions could fool him.

               “You’re very young for this,” he remarked, and Cloud couldn’t help but bristle.

               “I’m old enough that you answered.”

               The demon smiled slowly in what he hoped was amusement, pointedly putting aside the predatory edge.

               “Tell me, then. What have you found, in your handful of years, that you need so desperately that you brought me here?”

               All Cloud could think in that moment was, _“… fuck._ ” He kept the sentiment to himself.

               For all his careful planning, he hadn’t thought this far ahead. He knew what he wanted, he knew what he had to do to get it, he just never really thought about how to go about asking for it.

               The silence stretched as Cloud slowly blushed darker and darker. The demon, for his part, only grew more and more curious as he waited, tilting his head to the side. He didn’t seem inclined to help Cloud get this out.

               It would be so much easier if he wasn’t so damn _handsome_.

               He cleared his throat pointedly and rallied, knowing that he had to either speak or let the endeavor fall through. The demon raised his eyebrows expectantly.

               “Sephiroth—you are Sephiroth, right?”

               “I am, and you’re stalling.”

               Cloud’s mouth twisted unhappily.

               “I called you here because I want a deal.”

               “That is the only reason anyone calls, small one. You’re still stalling.”

               “My soul for companionship.”

               He blurted it as quickly as he could, hoping to get it out like ripping off a bandage. It would have worked, if it wasn’t for the way that Sephiroth didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked completely surprised. He blinked a few times in the silence, and Cloud felt that blush creeping back onto his face as he waited for the demon to come to whatever conclusion he would.

               “Companionship.”

               “Yes.”

               His face was burning by this point.

               “I’ll need a little more detail than that.”

               Cloud was, for the first time thus far, able to fall back on his preparations and was glad for it. He rummaged in the bag at his feet for a second before pulling out a folded piece of paper, opening it, and holding it up for Sephiroth to read, wise enough to not to try and pass it through the circle.

               The demon leaned forward, and Cloud was distracted by the way his hair slid forward with the motion, the view of his toned back that it gave. He cursed himself internally and turned his eyes away.

               Why did Sephiroth have to be attractive?

               “Friendship, then,” Sephiroth said as he straightened, looking at Cloud with curiosity. “Until I am released or your death.”

               “Yes.”

               “That’s a very lengthy contract.”

               “And eternity is a very long time for you to have my soul.”

               That fanged grin was back. Cloud gathered that he wasn’t very used to contractors talking back to him, but that he didn’t seem particularly opposed to it.

               “Very true,” Sephiroth admitted. “But, tell me. Why sell your soul for a forced friendship?”

               Cloud pursed his lips, unsure of what he wanted to say, how much he wanted to say. He sighed, deciding that if he was indefinitely throwing his lot in with this demon, it did him no favors to keep secrets.

               “Because I’m tired of being alone. I’ve been stuck in this town that hates me all my life and no one new actually _moves_ here. This is my best option.”

               “Why not leave town?”

               “My mother’s sick. Too sick to move, and I can’t just leave her.”

               “If she’s so sick, she’ll pass soon, and then you’ll be free.”

               Though Cloud very clearly didn’t appreciate the thought, Sephiroth very clearly wasn’t inclined to apologize.

               “She’s not that kind of sick. It’s an illness of the brain. She isn’t present most of the time, but she knows our home well enough from when she was healthy to get by. If I move her somewhere else, she’d lose any scrap of independence she has left, and she hates being coddled. I couldn’t do that to her.”

               “Why not have me make her healthy, then?”

               Cloud shook his head.

               “No matter what the doctors might tell her, she wouldn’t believe she was miraculously cured. She knows magic too well. She’d know I did something, something she wouldn’t approve of, to get her healthy, and when she figured out what happened, she’d never forgive me.”

               “You’d rather leave her to suffer than risk her ire?”

                 His eyes flashed in anger, his teeth clenching.

               “I’d rather respect her wishes than be too selfish to handle seeing her like this.”

               “You’re selling your soul because of her sickness, regardless of what you get from it in the end. What difference does it make?”

               “My soul for her health is different than my soul for my happiness.”

               “You don’t want to be selfish, but your motivation seems to be entirely about yourself.”

               “This way, no one else pays for this but me. If she doesn’t benefit, she doesn’t pay for it, even if the cost would only be emotional.”

               Sephiroth hummed in thought and, after a long moment, flicked his wrist. A rolled up piece of softly glowing paper appeared in his hand and he held it out, the edge of the paper extending through the circle. Cloud took it and found a feathered quill inside and, upon reading it, found it an exact copy of the contract he had drawn up himself with a small line at the bottom for his signature. He glanced up briefly at Sephiroth before signing it, after which it immediately disappeared.

               “Remove the circle.”

               Cloud paused, hesitant now to remove the last of his protection from the demon.

               “I’m bound to you, now. I couldn’t harm you even if I tried,” Sephiroth reassured, reading the problem in the tense line of Cloud’s shoulders.

               He took a deep breath, sighed it out slowly, and then scuffed out a line of the circle with the tip of his toe.

               A gust of air blew from the center of the circle, snuffing the candles, knocking a few over, and pushing Cloud back a step. It was impossible to see in the sudden darkness, but he could hear Sephiroth sigh, low and content in his freedom.

               The moment lasted longer than Cloud expected, and he found he didn’t really know where to go from here. He was about to call out to the demon when a few of the candles relit.

               He heard the footsteps, but he didn’t realize just how close Sephiroth had gotten until his eyes adjusted.

               The demon was close enough that he could feel his body heat. He startled, ready to pull back, but was stopped with a touch. Sephiroth reached out and cupped his cheek before taking his chin gently, lifting it so their eyes met.

               “You asked me for companionship,” he breathed.

               Cloud wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that. They both knew what he asked for. They signed a contract saying that they both knew. One of them clearly wasn’t thinking, perhaps from their sudden nearness, and Cloud wasn’t sure if it was him or not.

               He opened his mouth to ask, only to immediately feel Sephiroth’s lips meet his own. The kiss was slow, and so sweet that Cloud lost himself in it. He responded easily, no longer really thinking. When Sephiroth deepened it, he allowed it—encouraged it, even. He gave a low moan when Sephiroth’s tongue slid over his own and stepped closer, pressing their bodies together, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth’s neck. He wrapped his arms around Cloud’s waist, bowing his back further, and found the human turning to putty in his hands. He answered every action and gesture eagerly, though he seemed happy to be led. Cloud didn’t notice when his wings folded around them (almost possessively), curtaining them from the world, or the way Sephiroth’s tail curled around his leg.

               They pulled away only when Cloud absolutely needed to for breath, but Sephiroth didn’t stop. He kissed down Cloud’s neck as the human panted in his arms. One hand splayed between his shoulder blades to support him, the other reaching down to cup his ass. When Sephiroth bit at his throat, Cloud gave a soft, needy whine, fingers digging in where they were.

               Unfortunately, it was also enough to recall him to present.

               “Wait,” he gasped, though it quickly turned into a moan when he was ignored. “Dammit, Sephiroth, _wait_.”

               The demon paused and pulled away just enough that he could look up at Cloud through his lashes. He found he liked the way the human looked blissful and out of breath.

               “This isn’t the kind of companionship I meant.”

               “This is a kind I’m happy to offer.”

               Considering the matter resolved, he returned to kissing Cloud’s neck, his hand squeezing his ass.

               With some effort, Cloud turned his moan into, “ _No_.”

               This time, when Sephiroth pulled away, it was with a quiet growl of irritation.

               “ _Friendship_ ,” Cloud insisted. “We’re starting with friendship—and not friendship with benefits. If we decide we want to do this later, we can, but I don’t want to start this way.”

               Sephiroth tsked, but untangled them, helping Cloud stand upright.

               “If you insist,” he said, though his tone made it clear that he didn’t want to agree.

               Cloud was still a little breathless when he said, “Thank you.” Sephiroth found it more charming than he expected.

               “You don’t have to thank me,” he said, pulling the collar of Cloud’s sweater up higher so it covered the already purpling bruise he’d left.

               “Maybe not, but I’m still grateful.”

               Sephiroth rolled his eyes and sighed, finally applying a glamour that hid his demonic features. He didn’t like what the sentiment said of Cloud’s self-esteem. They would have to work on it.

               “Come, then. Show me your town and your mother.”

               Cloud whispered something that might have been, “Boner killer,” but it was so quiet not even Sephiroth could quite make it out.

**Author's Note:**

> totally unnecessary, but I'm one predictable bitch, so here you are! much shorter than A Cold Day in Hell, and this will either be a stand alone or it'll be a good while before it gets updated, but hope you enjoy!


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